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Podcast: They Create Worlds
Episode:

The Shenanigans of CUC Software
Category: Society & Culture
Duration: 01:22:35
Publish Date: 2026-05-15 00:00:00
Description:

TCW Podcast Episode 258 - The Shenanigans of CUC Software

 

Walter Forbes built CUC International from Comp-U-Card, a phone-in discount shopping club that cut out the middleman with a small markup and annual fee, not unlike a proto-Amazon Prime. As computer networks like CompuServe, Prodigy, and GEnie rose, CUC pivoted online and Forbes set his sights on the games business, joining the Sierra On-Line board and buying out Ken Williams and Davidson and Associates for a combined 1.7 billion dollars in stock swaps. Despite promises to Williams that he would not be secondary to a competitor, Bob Davidson of Davidson and Associates ended up running the software division, and when Davidson discovered something troubling enough to dump his stock and left. The cracks were beginning to show. Williams tried to take over, was not given the time of day, and eventually left. Forbes meanwhile pursued a merger with Henry Silverman's HFS, a hospitality giant owning Days Inn, Ramada, Howard Johnson, Century 21, Coldwell Banker, and Avis, forming the new conglomerate Cendant. The true depth of the shenanigans were only starting to show. How could a company consistently just barely beat analyst/market estimates?

 

Comp-U-Card News Brief: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P6H5mdSHyNQ

Credit Card Impression Machines: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/S5c2mA1cnv4

New Innovations in Credit Cards (1985): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_TBD8HTssRA

The Simpsons - The Truth: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Nc88_ZEfxg

TCW 039 - On-Line Systems: https://www.theycreateworlds.com/episodes/TCW039-on-line-systems

TCW 040 - Sierra On-Line: https://www.theycreateworlds.com/episodes/TCW040-sierra-on-line

Word Attack (PC-DOS 1983): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZJf13H9Wbnk

Math Blaster (PC-DOS 1983): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WKi_g0g8EWQ

TCW 162 - Spinnaker Software: https://www.theycreateworlds.com/episodes/TCW162-spinnaker-software

TCW 054 - Blizzard: Vikings and Warcraft: https://www.theycreateworlds.com/episodes/TCW054-blizzard-vikings-and-warcraft

TCW 071 - A story of Brøderbund!: https://www.theycreateworlds.com/episodes/TCW071-a-story-of-broderbund

TCW 072 - The MYSTeries of Brøderbund! - : https://www.theycreateworlds.com/episodes/TCW072-the-mysteries-of-broderbund

 

New episodes are on the 1st and 15th of every month!

 

TCW Email: feedback@theycreateworlds.com 

BlueSky: @theycreateworlds.bsky.social

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/theycreateworlds

Alex's Video Game History Blog: http://videogamehistorian.wordpress.com

Alex's book: http://bit.ly/TCWBOOK1

 

Intro Music: Josh Woodward - Airplane Mode -  Music - "Airplane Mode" by Josh Woodward. Free download: http://joshwoodward.com/song/AirplaneMode 

Outro Music: RoleMusic - Bacterial Love: http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Rolemusic/Pop_Singles_Compilation_2014/01_rolemusic_-_bacterial_love 

 

Copyright: Attribution: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
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